So few metal frames around these days :(

Manc33

I have a Triban 3 frame and it weighs about 1900g.

I was thinking surely if I spent say £200 on a steel or aluminium frameset, there would be endless options and they would weigh in at say 1600g or hopefully less.

Nowhere sells them anymore, its wall to wall carbon. Planet-X sells a really cheap £50 frame but that won't be any lighter than my Triban 3 at that price, what's the point, its not an upgrade.

They sell one frame I think, its £200 for the frameset reduced from £700.

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRSRSR/sar ... d-frameset

Its nice, but it isn't available in a 54cm.

The other £260 one is disc specific, but thats a bit out of my budget anyway.

I read last night a frame manufacturer is even now saying steel is the next new thing, just because of how long its been now since they used to be steel!

I don't care if its steel or aluminium but I want a metal frame thats like 1lb under the 1900g of my current frame. I guess its asking a lot and what you need really is carbon.

I might just save up for one of those so-called "C59" from China. Maybe it will be stiffer than my current carbon frame, the reason for wanting to get back to metal.

I might end up just buying a used one off someone on here but it has to be a 54 though.

All I ever find is sodding "fixie" bikes and stuff, when trying to find a 700c steel frame. Its annoying honestly.

I have got a steel Pennine frame from the 1960s that would be perfect (albeit a bit of surface rust here and there), but what sort of a headset is that going to need? One of those "lose it in the steerer tube forever" headsets?

Those really old ones where it acted like an expander bung, I mean on a frame that old are you forced into using an old steerer and a "threaded headset" on it?

Its about the only thing stopping me using it. I still hold my personal best record on that frame, it makes you ride it faster when you're on it, hard to explain. The frame has a lot of sentimental value to it. :oops:

alihisgreat

There are a lot of 'metal' frames around.. just not for £200. In fact there aren't many decent frames of any material for £200.

The problem is with your expectations of how far £200 will go, not the number of metal frames available.

luckily there are some around if you know where to look: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/frames-frames-road-ribble-winter-audax-525-frame/ribbfraw240

Manc33

OK cheers. I was just going off how many £300-£400 bikes there are around that are aluminium or steel where those frames would be valued around that amount. So many different bikes but you can never find a "frameset only" of really any of them. :roll:

That Ribble one is a bargain and ticks every box. Is 525 the first one in the series? I mean the cheapest? The Pennine and Harry Hall frames I have here are both 531 then I have seen 6xx and 953 (don't even go there lol). I am sure if money was no object we would all be on one of those 953 frames. You expect it to be expensive but then realize wow, it is far more expensive than I could have envisaged. One day eh.

What I like about steel frames is how thin the tubing is.

wotnoshoeseh

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

There are a lot of 'metal' frames around.. just not for £200. In fact there aren't many decent frames of any material for £200.

The problem is with your expectations of how far £200 will go, not the number of metal frames available.

luckily there are some around if you know where to look: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/frames-frames-road-ribble-winter-audax-525-frame/ribbfraw240

Aluminium also available, and a good bit cheaper....
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/frames-frames-road-ribble-winter-audax-7005-frame/ribbfraw220

Manc33

Their alloy one is 1650g which seems good at that price. It makes me wonder what my Triban 3 is "worth" as a brand new frame and fork. Probably around £80 for the frame and £40 for the fork. I could just stay on that but its a 57 and has me messing about with 50mm stems etc.

There was one on AliExpress for about £200 that claims a light weight and is aluminium, its finding the thing again...

dombhoy

Ribble utralite 1350g £220

marcusjb

For the love of god, don't buy a frameset, I am not sure the servers will be up to handling the tales of woe you will have.

Manc33

dombhoy wrote:

Ribble utralite 1350g £220

Its that "only with a fork" thing though pushing the cost up near to £300.

Here's an alright one...

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Opeak-ul ... 13454.html

Thats not the one I was looking at though.

Claims 1400g. No fork though, doesn't mention one (ignore the fact that forks are shown in the pics).

The £200 one was better than this but at 1400g hehe, thats over 1lb lighter than my Triban 3 frame.

No size 54 though. :roll: 52 is pretty close.

EDIT: Thats it "MOSSO 722TB7"
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/MOSSO-72 ... 77735.html

Claimed weight: 1180g but who knows what sizes they are. 16-17 inch then tells you a measurement over 1 metre. Yep, thats AliExpress.

Why even buy a carbon frame if that thing is sub 1200g?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZLprNRN_lY

I want it.
I need it.



Only available in 50cm and 52cm.

darkhairedlord

dolan prefissio £199 for the frameset, comes with a seatpost too....

darkhairedlord

We'll know if you buy one from china as the share price for butterkiss will spike..

arlowood

Keep a check on Paul Milnes website:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tifosi-CK7-Gr ... 27f0a3950f

They regularly have both steel, alloy and carbon framesets on offer at good prices.

An example is a Tifosi Grand Fondo frame for £180. Claimed weight is 1560g. You would have to source some forks but that would still bring it under £300 for the package.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tifosi-CK7-Gr ... 27f0a3950f

It's pink and in a size 56 so maybe not for you :oops: but keep checking and you may find something later to suit. Alternatively - give them a call to see if they can source what you're looking for.

Have bought 2 frames from them in the past and always found them to be 1st class.

Manc33

Cheers guys. Anytime I "find" a good deal, someone here posted it. :oops:

I am holding off for a while, because I need to rebuild my metal frame, then flog the carbon frame, then buy another lighter metal frame. I am sick of having a 36.6mm seatpost clamp! Most of these metal frames I am looking at have 27.2mm seat tubes all the way up. You're never going to struggle to find stuff in those sizes. When it gets to 31.8mm stuff gets harder to find, or its all MTB only where the parts might very well go on a road bike but would probably look silly.

I just don't know whether to get a frame from the UK thats about £200 and is 1600g or risk one of those 1200g ones from China thats about £200. Other sources say its more like 1300g. I mean if they made an aluminium (7005) frame that light, how safe is it?! I never knew any aluminium bike had got anywhere near that weight, well not for an affordable frame anyway. The company that makes the frame "Mosso" also makes quite a lot of other stuff like stems, pedals and stuff. When its 1lb lighter than western frames and the same price I can't not look at it.

dinyull

My Dad always said you can't educate pork...

Manc, you can get a sub 1300 gram Alu frame - CAAD 10, Kinesis Aithein, but you'll have to pay £600+ for the privilege. Plus the Aithein comes with a rider weight limit AND there are points where the frame can't be welded onto because the tubes are so thin. You would find me nowhere near a cheap knock off frame that claims to be that weight.

Have you tried ebay? If your that desperate for a lightish weight alu frame, I'd say second hand would be your only hope @ £200 unless you unearth a gem.

darkhairedlord

Manc33 wrote:

Cheers guys. Anytime I "find" a good deal, someone here posted it. :oops:

I am holding off for a while, because I need to rebuild my metal frame, then flog the carbon frame, then buy another lighter metal frame. I am sick of having a 36.6mm seatpost clamp! Most of these metal frames I am looking at have 27.2mm seat tubes all the way up. You're never going to struggle to find stuff in those sizes. When it gets to 31.8mm stuff gets harder to find, or its all MTB only where the parts might very well go on a road bike but would probably look silly.

I just don't know whether to get a frame from the UK thats about £200 and is 1600g or risk one of those 1200g ones from China thats about £200. Other sources say its more like 1300g. I mean if they made an aluminium (7005) frame that light, how safe is it?! I never knew any aluminium bike had got anywhere near that weight, well not for an affordable frame anyway. The company that makes the frame "Mosso" also makes quite a lot of other stuff like stems, pedals and stuff. When its 1lb lighter than western frames and the same price I can't not look at it.

have another look at that mosser frame, the welds alone look 1300g! and that fork looks decidedly dodgy.

Monty Dog

A frame that sells for £200 in the UK left the factory costing no more than £50 - that doesn't buy you much of a bike frame as it won't even buy you a decent set of tubes before you start cutting and welding...

MisterMuncher

Head over to ultimate cycles website. They're selling all the bikes from the Lance Armstrong movie. You'd be better off with a early- mid 90s pro tour level frame than some alleged lightweight that was apparently welded in the dark.

MisterMuncher

Also, check out planet x's eBay store for returned and cosmetically imperfect frames, sometimes at silly money.

navrig2

marcusjb wrote:

For the love of god, don't buy a frameset, I am not sure the servers will be up to handling the tales of woe you will have.

Winter evening entertainment. :twisted:

MisterMuncher

darkhairedlord wrote:

have another look at that mosser frame, the welds alone look 1300g! and that fork looks decidedly dodgy.

The fork is Aluminium. That'll be a significant downgrade on the Triban. It looks like a downgrade on being stabbed, tbh.

The claims of 1180g (for a 48cm frame) are quite funny. Tell you what. If one of those is 30g heavier than a CAAD10 frame, I'll pay for it myself and give you my CAAD.

hammond1975

The Ribble 525 is a good value frameset, I built one for someone and it looked really good quality, it built really well all the threads and the bottom bracket were really tidy.

He is well pleased with it, clearances are a little tight with mudguards 23c tyre is the max otherwise it is a good choice for the money.

darkhairedlord

just buy something random from ali-express.
Preferably a fake-branded one that's too cheap to be true but it must be a bargain because the LBS is a rip-off.
Make sure it's the wrong size.
Then fit the wrong chainset to it, using the wrong BB.
Then fit some random rear mech and incompatible shifters.
Then fit a really nasty fake saddle that wont clamp securely to your really cheap nasty fake carbon seatpost.
Then post post on here bitchin' about how the chainline is sh*t, about how it won't change gear properly, about how the stem is too long/short with drops/flat bars. How no-one makes decent stuff compatible with your random purchases.

Just warn us in advance we can buy some pop-corn, gin, smack, or what ever.

Just entertain us for the winter, buy it now!

Manc33

That Mosso will have about much left-right flex as the Holdsworth Stelvio has.

"Get a carbon frame, they are stiff" people said.

Nope. They just aren't. My cheap aluminium Triban 3 is pretty immovable side to side whereas the Stelvio is like its made of rubber in comparison. I guess what they mean by stiff is:

1. A length of carbon tubing is stiff. I agree with that.
2. Front to back, carbon makes a stiff frame. I agree with that too.

What they don't tell you is sideways... it is like spaghetti.

Maybe a Scott Addict (SL frame went for under £500 recently on eBay - in mint condition) or a C59 might be as stiff sideways as a metal frame.

I ended up putting my original "crap" (2100g) wheels back on for the same reason and will be selling the 1400g ones. Too flimsy.

inb4 someone says "Strong, light, cheap, pick two".

If I have got £500 spare and there's a Scott Addict knocking about on eBay I would be willing to give a good carbon frame a chance but I would just assume it has flex as well, just less of it than cheap carbon.

It doesn't help either that the seat stays on the carbon frame have nothing supporting them but on my metal frame they do, so you can bend the carbon one far easier than the metal framed one. After saying all of that, the Stelvio is actually pretty cheap for what it is, its worth the money if you're racing and don't care about sideways flex... and it is only a 1200g frame. Or should I say it is a 1200g frame that probably won't break on you. :P

thegibdog

I think you're placing too much emphasis on what material the frame is made from, whereas really it is what is done with it that counts. A carbon frame can be stiff, a carbon frame can be flexible. The same is true for steel, aluminium, titanium or even bamboo.